The present invention relates to imaging systems and, more particularly, to imaging systems with frame buffers and multiframe image processors.
Digital cameras and other electronic devices use digital camera modules to capture video and still digital images. A typical camera module includes a camera sensor and associated image processing and data formatting circuitry. The image processing and data formatting circuitry can be implemented using multiple integrated circuits or using a single “system on chip” (SOC) integrated circuit.
It is often desirable to implement image quality enhancement functions using the image processing circuitry. Many such functions require the processing of multiple image frames. For example, video image stabilization functions require that the image processing circuitry compare a frame to a previous frame. Image quality improvement functions for still images may also require that multiple frames be processed. For example, an exposure bracketing function may require that several frames be evaluated to determine which frame has the best exposure.
Providing a camera module with the memory and other resources needed to buffer and process multiple frames tends to increase costs, particularly in devices with megapixel-class image sensors.